Celtic and Rangers denied entry to Premier League

It should have been inevitable. Bolton Wanderers chairman, Phil Gartside, and his proposal to include the Old Firm teams in a new two-tiered Premier League were rebuked by at least fourteen clubs on Thursday. The exclusion of the Glasgow clubs will be mourned by those associated with the clubs but should be celebrated by the Scottish Premier League and the Premier League alike.

It is difficult to see how the SPL would have survived the departure of the two clubs who have run, what is essentially a monopoly, on league titles for decades. Teams such as Hibernian, Hearts and Aberdeen, each with a proud tradition of their own, would suffer a massive loss of television and sponsor revenue. Scottish Football Association chief-executive reiterated the views of the Scottish football public as a whole when he responded to the outcome of the meeting:

"Rangers and Celtic are the two biggest teams in Scottish football and we want to see them here", he remarked. "If we are to try and establish ourselves in Europe they have to be a part of that, as they have been in the past."

While some prominent figures in the Premier League, including Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Redknapp, have supported the idea of an expanded Premier League including Celtic and Rangers, the history of sectarianism and crowd violence is likely to have been a factor in the decision announced by Richard Scudamore.

Only recently both clubs have been subject to the scrutiny of the media and the public following two separate, high profile incidents. Elements of Celtic's support were criticised for showing a lack of respect to a minute's silence on Remembrance Sunday. Approximately half of the Celtic supporters failed to take their seats in the away end at The Falkirk Stadium. Sectarian chants stemmed from sections of the Celtic support as the silence was observed.

Rangers, on the other hand, have been fined by UEFA following skirmishes between fans and police in Bucharest as the Glasgow side encountered Unirea Urziceni in the Champions League. The fine, of 20,000 euros, is further supplemented by the order for Rangers to cover for damages suffered by the stadium.

Gartside's suggestions also included a proposal for an Irish franchise to be established with the intention of competing in the expanded league. The proposals will be reviewed by the Premier League with the intention of releasing recommendations by December 2010.